------- Index of Articles

NUCLEAR
Nuclear Material for Japan to Leave France on Friday
Uranium Furor in Balkans: Where Is the U.N.?
Plutonium Trace in Ammo Irrelevant, Says NATO
Swiss Detect an Isotope
Germany presses U.S. to supply data on DU ammunition
Depleted uranium concerns boost nonradioactive bullet
Depleted uranium gets harsh look on 2 fronts
DU adds to crimes against Iraqi people
Euro-MPs urge depleted uranium arms ban
India Tests Enhanced Version of Missile
India Test-Fires Nuclear-Capable Missile
India tests its own missile From Rahul Bedi, in New Delhi
Indians Test-Fire a Ballistic Missile
Agni-II second test successful
A direct threat, says Pak.
News in Brief
South Korea plans enhanced missiles
UC Will Keep Running U.S. Nuke Labs
Tenn. residents sue over weapons complex
Richardson to order Hanford reactor shut down
Powell Vows Activism In Foreign Relations
Energy Nominee Breezes Through Confirmation
Committee Recommends Powell Confirmation
Powell previews Bush agenda
Good promise
Softball for Powell, and With No Sweat
Powell: We'll push missile defense

MILITARY
Step In on Vieques
Report: Air Force Probing Drug Use
Troops Say Kosovo Duty Sharpens Their Skills


-------- NUCLEAR

Nuclear Material for Japan to Leave France on Friday

AFP
Thursday, January 18, 2001
International Herald Tribune
http://www.iht.com/articles/7891.htm

CHERBOURG, France Two British ships carrying a shipment of reprocessed nuclear waste will leave from this northern French port Friday for Japan, France's nuclear industry giant, Cogema, said Wednesday.

The route for the two ships that are taking the cargo, a mixture of plutonium and spent uranium, will be made public 24 hours after they leave Cherbourg, Cogema said.

Environmentalists have protested the shipment in recent days and attempted to block the transfer of the material from Cogema's reprocessing plant at La Hague to Cherbourg.

Overnight Tuesday, the police arrested five Greenpeace activists who had chained themselves to the entrance gate of a rail line leading to Cogema's plant in Valognes, south of Cherbourg, from where the cargo is to be shipped.

-------- depleted uranium

Uranium Furor in Balkans: Where Is the U.N.?

January 18, 2001
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/18/opinion/L18URA.html

To the Editor:

I have followed with concern your reporting about NATO's use of uranium-tipped weapons in the Balkan conflict, most recently "Traces of Uranium Isotope Found in U.S. Munitions in Kosovo" (news article, Jan. 17).

I was a United Nations official in the former Yugoslavia in 1994 and 1995, and I find it troubling that the United Nations has not followed the lead of Britain and other countries in notifying its personnel who served in the Balkans of the possible threat to their health.

Why must we learn of this from media accounts and not be told by the United Nations?

Certainly, the international public service that I and so many others have performed should not find as its result a void of information on this issue. JEFFREY HEYMAN

Oakland, Calif., Jan. 17, 2001

----

Plutonium Trace in Ammo Irrelevant, Says NATO

January 18, 2001
By REUTERS Filed at 2:25 p.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/science/science-balkans-nato-.html

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Faint traces of radioactive uranium 236 and plutonium could be present in some depleted uraniumammunition but the fact has been long established and presents no increased health risk, NATO said on Thursday.

In a statement in response to reports highlighting the discovery of plutonium traces in spent DU rounds analyzed by independent laboratories, NATO spokesman Mark Laity said such traces were so small as to be meaningless in terms of health risk.

He cited detailed United Nations Environment Programand U.S. Energy and Defense department papers on the issue, which were available on NATO's Web site (www.nato.int).

``From a safety viewpoint, the presence of minute quantities of U-236 in depleted uranium is irrelevant,'' the statement said.

Tests showed that the presence of trace levels of plutonium (a few parts per billion) and other materials in depleted uranium ``added 0.8 percent to the radiation dose from DU.''

``Thus, form a safety viewpoint, the presence of such small quantities of plutonium in depleted uranium is also irrelevant,'' Laity said.

Politically, mere mention of plutonium meant a fresh headache for NATO, under fire for the past three weeks for using armor-piercing rounds DU in Bosnia and Kosovo.

Some ailing soldiers and anti-nuclear campaigners say it causes cancer, although scientists say there is simply no evidence to support the claim.

German Defense Minister Rudolf Scharping called in the U.S. charge d'affaires in Berlin on Wednesday to find out more about a German TV show's ``revelation'' that DU rounds might contain plutonium -- a word Scharping indicated had a particularly ominous resonance in many German ears.

DU HAS TWO DIFFERENT ORIGINS

The allies say there is no scientific evidence to back up DU fears and no evidence of symptoms among former peacekeepers that could describe a common ``Balkans syndrome'' suspected by some.

``It has long been established that there may be trace elements of U-236 and plutonium in depleted uranium, which is a by-product of the nuclear industry,'' the NATO spokesman said.

``According to independent experts, however, the levels found are so low as to present no cause for concern.''

One nuclear expert who did not wish to be quoted by name said that to describe DU simply as a ``by-product'' glosses over the fact it has two possible origins -- from low-radioactive natural ore, or from highly-radioactive nuclear waste.

Plutonium and U-236 can appear in low-radioactivity depleted uranium (U-238) created in the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel rods, but is not present in depleted uranium left over when U-236 is refined out of natural uranium ore to make fuel.

The expert said that fact raised the theoretical possibility that not all DU in munitions was exactly the same, and that some batches might therefore display a different radioactive spectrum than others. Tests now under way would show that up, he said.

One explanation for plutonium traces found in some DU was that, although it originated from natural ore, it was wrongly stored at some stage in production in containers used for nuclear waste, and had picked up faint contamination.

The ammunition used by U.S. A-10 ground attack aircraft in Kosovo and Bosnia is manufactured by two American companies, Gencorp's Aerojet Ordnance Division and Honeywell.

The United States has stockpiles of about 700,000 tons of depleted uranium created by 40 years of uranium enrichment. In November, the Department of Energy issued a formal ``request for proposals'' by February to prepare the DU inventory for disposal or potential use, and it said this could take 25 years.

``All this still doesn't change the bottom line -- that no connection has shown up between serious illness and depleted uranium,'' a NATO diplomat said. Wherever it originated, it was depleted and not dangerous.

The UNEP and Department of Energy reports both said the level of radioactivity in the DU with traces of other isotopes was only a tiny fraction higher than in DU without such traces, and was therefore not significantly different in health risk terms.

--------

Swiss Detect an Isotope

Thursday, January 18, 2001
International Herald Tribune
Marlise Simons
http://www.iht.com/cgi-bin/generic.cgi?template=articleprint.tmplh&ArticleId=7966

Trace of U-236 in Spent Shells on Battlefields Is Sure to Raise Worry About Contamination

PARIS A Swiss laboratory has announced that it found traces of a uranium isotope that suggest radioactive contamination in American-made munitions that were collected on the battlefields of Kosovo.

The lab, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Spiez, said Tuesday that the quantities of uranium 236 that were found were minute and that it was checking for other substances in the spent shells. They were retrieved by a United Nations mission that was checking the effects of depleted uranium weapons.

Four other European labs are analyzing samples from Kosovo. Their joint findings on toxic materials in soil, water and spent shells are to be published in March. It was not clear why the Swiss lab announced part of its results on Tuesday.

The lab acted as a furor in Europe over sicknesses among NATO troops who are returning from Kosovo was shifting focus. Scientists and nuclear experts in Europe have said that there are indications that some depleted uranium used in anti-tank rounds was "dirty," or contaminated. The Swiss finding of uranium 236 is certain to increase anxiety in the debate over why 15 European troops recently died of leukemia and others have unexplained illnesses.

The announcement coincides with the publication of a book in France next week, "Depleted Uranium, Invisible War," written by Martin Meissonnier, Frederic Loore and Roger Trilling, who have researched the contamination of the depleted uranium and its consequences. Advance reports on their findings are causing a stir in Paris.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has tried to calm the uproar, saying that depleted uranium munitions cannot cause serious health problems after impact. NATO quickly created a medical committee that repeated Tuesday that there was no recognizable "Balkans Syndrome."

Scientists and nuclear experts in Europe and the United States are at odds over the dangers. They also disagree on whether the presence of uranium 236 makes a crucial difference, even though it suggests that other contaminants may be present.

Everyone seems to agree that uranium 236 does not occur in uranium ore, nor is it meant to be found in depleted uranium, which has been stripped of the elements suitable for use in reactors and bombs. "U-236 is created in a nuclear reactor," said a French nuclear physicist, Monique Sene. "It comes from nuclear fuel and, most likely, from recycling nuclear waste. There is no other known source."

An American physicist, Steve Fetter, said the presence of uranium 236 in munitions with depleted uranium was known, but he said it would not cause a health problem because its alpha radiation did not allow it to wreak much damage. He said that the uranium 236 did not penetrate into the bone and marrow, where leukemia originates.

But Jean-Francois Lacronique, director of the National Radiation Protection Agency in France, said that the finding of uranium 236 was a cause for concern because "it is 10 times more radioactive than depleted uranium, and it acts very quickly." When uranium-tipped munitions explode, he said, the high temperatures can turn uranium into tiny droplets or dust particles that can enter the body, where they can remain radioactive for 200 days.

The presence of uranium 236 changes the scope of the health problems, Mr. Lacronique said. "To get cancer from depleted uranium, you have to be exposed for a long time to very large amounts. But U-236 changes the equation, because it comes from burnt nuclear fuel that was recycled. We now have the duty to find out if other contaminants from burnt fuel are present, like plutonium or americium, which are much more harmful."

Mr. Lacronique said the effects of simple depleted uranium had been well studied because this heavy metal has long been used as counterweight in ships' keels, elevator weights and airplane wings. "But the effects of U-236 have not been studied because it was not supposed to be there," he said. The director of the Swiss lab said Wednesday that at so far, at least, its scientists had not found any plutonium or other unexpected elements.

According to the forthcoming French book, the U.S. military reported in 1995 that the depleted uranium sent by federally owned plants to weapon makers "may contain trace amounts of U-236."

The military report does not describe this as cause for concern. But the French book also cites a letter, dated Aug. 18, 1993, from the U.S. Army Surgeon General's office, asking military chemists for more details on depleted uranium because the effects on soldiers "from exposure to DU dust include possible increased risk of cancer (lung or bone) and kidney damage." That increase can be "quantified in terms of projected days of life lost," if the intake of depleted uranium is known" the letter said.

Pentagon and NATO doctors recently have said that undue exposure to depleted uranium may result in heavy-metal poisoning, but they have denied that lung or bone cancer or leukemia can occur.

The World Health Organization issued a statement last week saying that the effects of depleted uranium on human health were complex and could be caused by chemicals or radiation. "There are many gaps in knowledge about DU that need further research," it said.

--------

Germany presses U.S. to supply data on depleted uranium ammunition

Thursday, January 18, 2001
Philadelphia Inquirer
ASSOCIATED PRESS
By Geir Moulson
http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/01/18/national/URANIUM18.htm?template=aprint.htm

BERLIN - Germany made its boldest move yet in the row over possible health risks from depleted uranium ammunition, demanding yesterday that the United States come forward with all the information it has.

Defense Minister Rudolf Scharping also launched an investigation into whether the ammunition contains cancer-causing plutonium.

Meanwhile, the European Parliament urged a moratorium on use of the ammunition despite repeated assurances from NATO that it was not responsible for cancer cases among peacekeepers in the Balkans.

In Berlin, Scharping complained that "it can't be that not all NATO partners have access to the same information." He did not elaborate.

U.S. charge d'affaires Terry Snell countered that Germany was "receiving all the information that we have," embassy spokesman Mark Smith said.

The German government, like many others across Europe, has been under pressure to act as public concern mounts over reports of cancer among veterans of Balkan peacekeeping missions.

Depleted uranium, a slightly radioactive heavy metal, is used in anti-armor munitions because of its high penetrating power. U.S. forces fired weapons containing depleted uranium in Bosnia in 1994 and 1995, and NATO used such weapons during its 1999 bombing campaign in Yugoslavia.

NATO insists there is no scientific evidence linking cancer cases to depleted uranium. Last week, it rejected an appeal from Germany and Italy to impose a moratorium on the use of depleted uranium.

Yesterday's European Parliament resolution urging such a moratorium, which passed in a 394-60 vote with 106 abstentions, is nonbinding. Lawmakers rejected calls by the Green Party for an immediate ban on the use and testing of all depleted uranium munitions.

Meanwhile, the United Nations, in a letter to staff serving in areas where depleted uranium may have been used, recommended "that under no circumstances should staff members handle any remnants of armaments."

Scharping said the German military was investigating reports that depleted uranium ammunition might contain far more dangerous plutonium.

"That is a very serious suspicion and it must be taken seriously," Scharping said on German radio. "We are looking into that, though at this time we ourselves have no evidence."

NATO said yesterday that the alliance always had accepted that there were trace amounts of plutonium in depleted uranium but believed they caused almost no additional radioactivity, pointing to tests carried out by the U.S. Department of Energy and reported by the Defense Department in December.

---

Depleted uranium concerns boost nonradioactive bullet

Christian Science Monitor
WORLD
THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 2001
http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2001/01/18/fp7s1-csm.shtml

The European Parliament yesterday called for a suspension of DU use pending study. By Scott Peterson Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor


MOSCOW - On the battlefield, even a slight shift of wind can send poisonous clouds of chemical weapons right back onto soldiers who fire them - one reason that many of the world's nations now accept an international ban on such weapons. The US ratified the treaty in 1997.

Today, the same argument is being used by critics of depleted uranium (DU) munitions, who charge that American use of these radioactive "tank-buster" bullets in the Balkans posed as much danger to European allied soldiers as to Serb military targets.

Yesterday, the European Parliament voted to urge NATO to suspend use of the munitions, pending results of an independent study on the potential health risks. NATO last week rebuffed calls for a moratorium from Italy and Germany. Some blame the armor-piercing bullets for a string of unexplained cancer deaths and other health problems among European peacekeepers who served in Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s.

As the controversy rages, the issue is rekindling calls for an alternative that may better suit the needs of Western forces in post-cold war conflicts - and buries the political fallout.

At the top of the list is tungsten, another heavy metal that the Pentagon has been studying for two decades and is not radioactive. Some argue that in the future tungsten alloys - especially if propelled at speeds greater than those possible today - could match DU performance.

But for now, experts say, tungsten is costly and less effective than DU. And few American tank gunners forget that, even as Iraq yesterday marked the 10-year anniversary of the start of the 1991 Gulf War - DU was the "silver bullet" that helped destroy 4,000 Iraqi tanks with few US casualties. Iraq blames DU for a substantial increase in cancers and birth defects since the war.

Developed 'for WWIII'

"Regardless of the health risks ... [DU] has become such a political liability that [the US military] might decide to be a lot more selective in their use of it," says Chris Hellman, a senior analyst at the Center for Defense Information in Washington. "DU was developed to fight World War III, when it didn't really matter what the battlefield looked like when you got done," Mr. Hellman adds.

"When you are in a place like Bosnia or Kosovo, where civilians and your own people will be on the ground, you may decide that it's not worth using [DU]," he says. Especially "if you have a close second like tungsten."

Currently, almost the entire American arsenal of armor-piercing bullets is made of DU. A nuclear waste product, DU burns on impact, creating radioactive particles that can be dangerous if eaten or inhaled. United Nations teams have collected 340 samples from Kosovo that are being analyzed in five European laboratories, to determine possible health and environmental risks.

US military comparisons in the 1980s showed that DU was "clearly superior" to tungsten for penetrating armor, says US Army spokeswoman Nancy Ray, at the Pentagon. "We are not looking for a substitute to DU for any reason," says Ms. Ray, who adds that political considerations, so far, are not part of the equation. "In all areas, as our awareness changes, we change. We are looking for superior munitions because that is the best way to protect our soldiers," she says.

The US Navy made such an improvement in 1989, when it decided to switch from DU to tungsten bullets in its Phalanx weapons system in part "eliminating safety and environmental problems associated with DU," Navy documents show. The British Navy announced last week that it also was making the switch for its Phalanx units because US manufacturers had stopped producing DU bullets.

Focusing on toxic risks and not radioactive ones, Pentagon officials say DU exposure is no more dangerous than "old lead paint" - a view some NATO allies question. Defense department tests have shown that no cleanup treatment - except removing topsoil altogether - can turn an area contaminated with DU dust into one for "unrestricted" use.

Weighing cost, effectiveness

But is tungsten a viable alternative? Two problems, experts say, are cost and effectiveness. DU is given almost free to weapons manufacturers by the US Department of Energy, which has built up a 1.2 billion-pound stockpile since the first atomic projects of the 1940s.

By one estimate, tungsten bullets cost 10 times as much as DU, and are only 60 percent as effective. On impact with a target, tungsten forms a mushroom-shaped head, while DU self-sharpens and penetrates up to 20 percent deeper.

"[Tungsten] will never be as good as DU, we don't think," says Paul Beaver, spokesman for the London-based Jane's group, which specializes in military analysis. While tungsten can be improved with copper and titanium alloys, "we're talking about 30mm cannon shells that are going to end up the price of missiles if we're not careful."

The wider context of the DU debate may be the fact that allied casualties have been few in recent conflicts. "The problem is that a lot of people believe you can have a 'politically correct' war," Mr. Beaver adds. "People say: 'It must be safe. It must be easy.'"

Adds Hellman: "Though they didn't come to it easily, the military is becoming sensitive to collateral damage. They will never give up DU ... so they will have to come up with with a political compromise. Maybe the way is to say that, in NATO operations, we won't use this."

---

Depleted uranium gets harsh look on 2 fronts

Thursday, January 18, 2001
Philadelphia Inquirer
http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/01/18/national/BITS18.htm

Germany urged the United States yesterday to come forward with all the information it has on the possible health risks from depleted uranium ammunition. At the same time, the European Parliament urged a moratorium on use of the ammunition despite assurances from NATO that it was not responsible for cancer cases among peacekeepers in the Balkans.

--------

DU adds to crimes against Iraqi people

South Movement
David Muller <davemull@alphalink.com.au>
Melbourne, Australia
Thursday, 18 January, 2001

A comparison of the location of cancer victims to the spread of air raids and military action across Iraq leaves no doubt that dust from depleted uranium (DU) weapons has compounded the suffering of the Gulf War.

Bill Hartley, Media Officer of the Australian-Iraqi Friendship Bureau, said in a Melbourne radio broadcast that attempts by the United States and Britain to deny responsibility for unexplained leukemias in Iraq and the Balkans were now in absolute disarray. The pollution caused by toxic and radioactive DU shells had caused a storm of protest.

The seriousness of the situation was compounded in Iraq by a ten-year-old sanctions regime which denied health authorities adequate money and medical supplies for proper treatment for the consequences of DU use.

Mr Hartley said maps of cancer and leukemia clusters around Basra which had been covered in DU dust and aerosols from exploding shells showed a seven-fold increase.

He said Iraq with wide international support had requested a full investigation by the UN-based World Health Organisation (WHO). But the investigation had been vetoed by the United States and Great Britain - the principal users of DU. Mr Hartley said in his broadcast that many members of the US Congress had supported the concept of a WHO probe and had protested the US veto as a cover-up. Now anger was widespread that demands for a full inquiry probably could no longer be avoided.

Daily illegal air raids in both the north and south so-called "no-fly" zones were continuing. Mr Hartley said they were originated by US aircraft from Turkish bases to attack the Kurdish region in the north while UK aircraft based in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait bombed Southern Iraq. It was quite probable that these aircraft were still using DU-armed missiles and bombs. The US and UK had refused to give any undertakings to forego the use of DU weaponry - either in the daily bombing of parts of Iraq or by NATO forces in the Balkans - despite the popular anger.

Mr Hartley said that the Australian Government had claimed that all DU-armed weaponry had been removed from the Australian arsenal in 1995. This action, virtually an admission that DU was a dangerous substance, raised serious issues about its continuous use to this day by the US and UK. The Australian Navy used DU shells during the Gulf War and had to carry responsibility for its share of the damage caused then.

(The Australian-Iraqi Friendship Association said in its submission to a Parliamentary Committee on the Middle East in November, 2000, that Australia was partly liable for the cost of the clean-up in those areas where the Kuwait War fighting took place. The medical consequences of DU was another reason why sanctions should immediately be lifted.).

--------

Euro-MPs urge depleted uranium arms ban

By Ambrose Evans Pritchard in Brussels
18/01/2001
http://www.portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/01/18/wuran18.xml

THE European Parliament voted yesterday for a moratorium on the use of depleted uranium munitions by Nato forces.

After a stormy debate marked by vitriolic outbursts of anti-American feeling, Euro-MPs voted by 339 to 202 for a resolution demanding that all European military forces in the Atlantic Alliance ban the use of armour-piercing shells and other depleted uranium weaponry until they were shown to be safe.

Labour and Conservative Euro-MPs voted against the resolution, which is not binding on EU member states and is not likely to restrict the sorts of weaponry deployed by Nato or the EU's new rapid reaction force. The EU's foreign policy and security chief, Javier Solana, distanced himself from the Parliament, saying there was no scientific evidence linking leukaemia to the use of depleted uranium weapons in the Balkans.

-------- india / pakistan

India Tests Enhanced Version of Missile

From News Services
Thursday, January 18, 2001 ; Page A17
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A10206-2001Jan17?language=printer

NEW DELHI, Jan. 17 -- India successfully test-fired an enhanced version of its intermediate-range Agni II ballistic missile from its eastern coast today, prompting expressions of concern from Pakistan, Japan and Britain.

"The flight test results have indicated that the mission objectives were met satisfactorily," the United News of India quoted missile program director R.N. Agarwal as saying.

It was the second test of the upgraded version of the original Agni, a two-stage, solid-fuel missile with a 1,250-mile range, which a defense analyst said was a key element of India's plan to build a credible minimum nuclear deterrent.

India carried out nuclear tests in 1998 and declared itself a nuclear state. Defense experts say the Agni II can carry nuclear warheads and strike targets deep within China and Pakistan.

Pakistan, which also staged a nuclear test in 1998, said it felt threatened by the Agni test and urged India to agree to a "strategic restraint regime."

"India's test-firing today of its Agni II missile is part of its ambitious nuclear and missile program which poses a direct threat to Pakistan's security and has been a matter of concern for the international community," the Foreign Ministry said.

Japan urged India to refrain from further missile tests and said it hoped Pakistan would exercise restraint.

Britain's Foreign Office said the test "sends the wrong signal within the region and beyond" and said "restraint in developing nuclear weapons and possible delivery systems is in the long-term interests of India and the region."

Agni II's first test was held in April 1999. Agni, named after a Hindu fire god, is seen as a potential deterrent to China, India's nuclear-armed neighbor. It is part of a wide-ranging missile development program.

----

India Test-Fires Nuclear-Capable Missile

January 18, 2001
By REUTERS
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/18/science/india-missile.html

NEW DELHI - India successfully test-fired a longer-range version of its intermediate-range Agni ballistic missile from its eastern coast Wednesday, the defense ministry said.

It was the second test of the upgraded version of the original Agni, a two-stage all-solid motor missile with a range of about 1,250 miles.

The first was held in April 1999, prompting tests within days by Pakistan of its medium-range Ghauri II missile.

Agni, named after a Hindu fire god, is seen as a potential deterrent to India's nuclear-armed neighbor China. It is part of a wide-ranging missile development program.

Defense experts say the missile can carry nuclear warheads and strike targets deep within China as well as Pakistan.

The previous test of Agni II sent the missile into the Bay of Bengal.

India carried out nuclear tests in 1998 and declared itself a nuclear weapons state. Since then it has said it will build a minimum credible nuclear deterrent.

Richard Celeste, U.S. ambassador to India, told Reuters on the sidelines of a business conference that Washington had been given notice of the latest test. But he declined to comment further.

One Ton Warhead Possible

The defense ministry said the Agni, which could carry a one-ton warhead, had been fired from a mobile launcher in its ``final operational configuration'' for the first time.

``The second test flight of Agni II, surface-to-surface missile was conducted today at 1001 hours (11:31 p.m. EST Tuesday) from the interim test range, Chandipur, Orissa in its final operational configuration'' the ministry in a statement.

``The flight was monitored with shore-and-ship instrumentation facilities which were networked in real time. The program director, Mr. R.N. Agarwal, said that the flight test results have indicated that mission objectives were met satisfactorily.''

The test flight was witnessed by Defense Minister George Fernandes, his scientific adviser, the air force chief and the vice-chief of the army staff.

The ministry said that Fernandes, complimenting the scientists and engineers of the Defense Research and Development Organization, had ``highlighted the role and relevance of Agni II in meeting our national security interests.''

--------

India tests its own missile From Rahul Bedi, in New Delhi

Thursday, January 18, 2001
Irish Times
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/world/2001/0118/wor3.htm

INDIA India successfully test-fired its locally developed long-range intermediate ballistic missile capable of delivering a 2200 lbs (1,000 kg) nuclear payload to a distance of over 1,375 miles (2,000 km) yesterday.

Defence officials said the locally designed Agni II (Fire), test-fired for the second time in nine months in its final "operational configuration from the interim test range at Chandipuron-Sea off the eastern Orissa coast, "satisfactorily" met its mission objectives.

With an optimum striking range of 1,562 miles (2,500 km) the missile forms part of India's minimum nuclear deterrent, capable of delivering a nuclear warhead anywhere in neighbouring Pakistan, but more significantly, to southern China.

Defence officials said the two stage, solid-fuel missile which is 20 metres long and weighs 16 tonnes is capable of being fired from a mobile rail launcher to avoid detection. Scientists were testing the missile's guidance systems, to ensure it landed not more than 100 yards from its target.

At present India has only two sets of nuclear-capable missiles with ranges of 150 km and 250 km respectively.

The missile test came as India and Pakistan are making tentative steps towards holding peace talks over the northern, disputed Kashmir state. It also coincided with the ongoing visit to India of China's second highest leader, Mr Li Peng, during which he advocated a swift resolution of the border dispute between the two countries over which they went to war in 1962.

---

Indians Test-Fire a Ballistic Missile

Thursday, January 18, 2001
International Herald Tribune
Reuters
http://www.iht.com/cgi-bin/generic.cgi?template=articleprint.tmplh&ArticleId=7879

NEW DELHI India successfully test-fired a longer-range version of its intermediate-range Agni ballistic missile from its eastern coast on Wednesday, the Indian Defense Ministry said.

It was the second test of the upgraded version of the original Agni, a two-stage all-solid motor missile with a range of 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles).

"This is very much part of the minimum nuclear deterrent - we need to get a credible delivery system," said Uday Bhaskar, deputy director at the Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses, which is financed by the government.

But the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said, "India's test-firing today of its Agni-2 missile is part of its ambitious nuclear and missile program, which poses a direct threat to Pakistan's security and has been a matter of concern for the international community."

---

Agni-II second test successful

Thursday, January 18, 2001
The Hindu
By Atul Aneja
http://www.indiaserver.com/thehindu/2001/01/18/stories/01180002.htm

NEW DELHI, JAN. 17. India today successfully carried out the second test of the Agni-II missile to bridge a key gap in its evolving nuclear forces.

According to an official statement, the missile was tested in its ``final operational configuration'', meaning the final design for the ``ready for battle'' Agni has now been frozen. This is the last major step prior to the induction of this weapon.

Highly-placed sources in the Government said the test was timed for the departure of Mr. Li Peng, number two in the Chinese hierarchy, from Indian soil. This was necessary to signal to the Chinese that the test was not directed against them. India's linkage of its nuclear tests to a threat from China soured its relations with Beijing in the past. In fact, China, along with Pakistan, the United States, the U.K, Germany and Japan, was given prior intimation about the test, a Foreign Office spokesman said.

The Agni tested today has a range of ``about 2000 km''. As in the case of the first test in April, 1999, the missile was powered solely by the user-friendly solid fuel. It was launched at 1001 hours from a mobile launcher at the Interim Test Range at Chandipur in Orissa.

The significance of today's test lies in its linkage with the Pokhran nuclear tests. While the tests had given India a capability to design atomic warheads, they did not address the question of delivering them. The development of the Agni addresses this deficiency frontally. India now has the operational capability to land nuclear warheads within a range of around 2,000 km., bridging a key gap in its nuclear arsenal.

The Agni-II launch was witnessed by the Defence Minister, Mr. George Fernandes, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal A. Y. Tipnis, the Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister, Dr. V. K. Atre, and the Vice-Chief of the Army Staff, Lt. General Vijay Oberoi.

PM's pat for DRDO

UNI reports:

The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, has congratulated scientists and engineers of the Defence Research and Development Organisation for the Agni-II's second successful test flight this morning.

Mr. Vajpayee also spoke on the phone to Dr. Atre, at the interim test range at Chandipur and congratulated him. Earlier, Mr. Fernandes informed the Prime Minister of the successful launch. (A PTI report from Berlin quoted the External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, as saying that the successful test-firing of Agni-II would not trigger an arms race in the sub-continent.)

---

A direct threat, says Pak.

Thursday, January 18, 2001
The Hindu
By B. Muralidhar Reddy
http://www.indiaserver.com/thehindu/2001/01/18/stories/01180008.htm

ISLAMABAD, JAN. 17. Pakistan today dubbed the testing of the Agni-II missile a ``direct threat'' to its security and reiterated its proposal for a ``strategic restraint regime'' between the two countries to promote nuclear and conventional stabilisation.

A spokesman of the Foreign Ministry said the Agni-II test was part of India's ambitious nuclear and missile programme that posed a direct threat to Pakistan's security and a matter of concern for the international community.

``India's nuclear ambitions, clear from its draft nuclear doctrine announced in 1999, have a destabilising effect on the region. Pakistan reiterates its proposal to India that the two countries should agree to a strategic restraint regime to promote nuclear and conventional stabilisation and to strengthen peace and stability in South Asia,'' the statement said.

A senior diplomat in the Indian High Commission expressed surprise over the claim that Pakistan was reiterating its proposal for a strategic restraint regime. The issue figured in general terms at the Foreign Secretary-level meeting between the two countries in 1998 and was never discussed specifically, he said.

Dr. Riffat Hussain, an expert on South Asia security issues at the Quaid-e-Azam University, told The Hindu that perhaps for the first time Pakistan had formally talked about a strategic restraint regime.

He said the testing of Agni-II would adversely impact the prevailing environment in the region and did not augur well for the international concerns regarding tensions between India and Pakistan. ``The Agni-II testing is a precursor to the ultimate goal of acquiring an ICBM capability''.

Dr. Hussain said he had been an ardent advocate of applying the restraint regime to both nuclear and conventional weapons. ``My own reading of the Lahore Declaration is it calls for creations of mechanisms to move towards restraint regime in both the fields''.

---

News in Brief

Thursday, January 18, 2001
Philadelphia Inquirer
http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/01/18/national/BITS18.htm

Calls for restraint follow test of India's missile India successfully test-fired a longer-range version of its intermediate-range Agni ballistic missile from its eastern coast yesterday. The test prompted calls by Pakistan, Japan and Britain for restraint in the development of nuclear arms. Agni, named after a Hindu fire god, is part of a wide-ranging missile-development program.

-------- korea

South Korea plans enhanced missiles

January 18, 2001
By Willis Witter
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
http://www.washtimes.com/world/default-2001118222330.htm

SEOUL - The South Korean government announced yesterday it will develop and deploy missiles capable of striking deep into North Korea, bringing several major cities within its range for the first time.

Separately, Foreign Minister Lee Jeong-binn told The Washington Times in an interview that he viewed reports of a secret visit to China this week by Kim Jong-il as a sign that the North Korean leader wants to emulate China's economic reforms.

Mr. Lee's ministry quietly announced that it has decided after lengthy negotiations with the United States to develop rockets with a range of up to 187 miles and a payload of up to 1,100 pounds.

The South previously had been bound by a 1979 agreement with Washington not to build missiles with a range greater than 112 miles for fear of sparking an arms race on the Korean Peninsula.

"By adopting the new guideline, our government will be able to develop and possess missiles with enough range capabilities to meet our security needs," said a Foreign Ministry statement.

In an apparent attempt to dispel concerns over a possible arms race on the Korean Peninsula, the government also pledged to join the global Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) aimed at stopping missile proliferation.

South Korea is set to join the MTCR at a March meeting of 32 signers of the treaty.

The Korea Herald newspaper reported that Seoul had already informed North Korea of its plans to adopt the new missile guidelines. However there was no immediate reaction from North Korea, whose reclusive leader is touring China on only his second foreign trip since taking power more than six years ago.

Neither China nor North Korea has officially confirmed the visit. But an unmarked 10-car train carrying a North Korean delegation has been spotted crossing the Chinese countryside and a Reuters News Agency correspondent yesterday reported seeing Mr. Kim, dressed in a dark suit, leaving the Grand Theater in Shanghai.

Reports from China say Mr. Kim's itinerary also includes stops at Shanghai's financial district and the Shenzen special economic zone near Hong Kong.

Mr. Lee said during an interview in his Foreign Ministry office that he saw the tour of the skyscraper canyons of Shanghai and Shenzen as an indication that thoughts of becoming a "second China" are very much on Mr. Kim's mind.

"China is a model. Vietnam is also a model to a certain extent. And this, I believe, is probably the only alternative that North Korea sees as the road for it to take as well."

If Mr. Lee is correct, it marks a dramatic change in North Korean thinking. A senior Chinese official told The Washington Times a year ago that visiting North Korean delegates had until then seen Chinese economic development as a betrayal of socialist principles.

The stakes are enormous both for South Korea and for the United States, which maintains 37,000 troops in the South.

With the peninsula frozen under a blanket of ice and snow, reports of the North shivering through yet another winter without adequate supplies of heat, electricity or food underscore the limits of a diplomatic opening that until now has been geared primarily toward wooing additional aid.

The timing of South Korea's missile announcement added a touch of irony to the tortured path of inter-Korean relations, since North Korea's own missile development and sales have become primary concerns in Washington.

North Korea shocked the world by test-firing a three-stage rocket in 1998, demonstrating its ability to build rockets capable of hitting the United States. Pyongyang claims it earns $1 billion annually by selling rockets to rogue nations such as Iran.

Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright became the first U.S. Cabinet official to visit in October, when she sought an agreement to halt the development and sales of additional missiles.

President Clinton had considered a visit to Pyongyang in the final days of his presidency to sign such a pact but decided not to go when an agreement proved beyond reach.

Diplomats said this week's discussions between Mr. Kim and Chinese leaders were certain to include an effort to size up the upcoming presidency of George W. Bush.

Apart from missile sales, which Western nations say earn far less money than Pyongyang claims, the isolated Stalinist state depends on hundreds of millions of dollars in food and other humanitarian aid from Seoul and Washington to stave off mass starvation.

But the limits of North Korea's diplomacy are quickly becoming apparent.

South Korean sources said officials from the cash-strapped Hyundai conglomerate are now in the North attempting to renegotiate a deal in which it pays $150 million a year for rights to ferry tourists to a scenic mountain resort.

Without some economic progress in the North, where factories lie idle and hungry people scour harvested fields for kernels of rice, officials say the prospects for an improvement in North-South relations are limited.

"The process of improving relations with North Korea will be very much restrained without fundamental improvement in the economic condition in North Korea," Mr. Lee said.

-------- u.s. nuc facilities

-------- california

UC Will Keep Running U.S. Nuke Labs

January 18, 2001
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Nuclear-Labs.html

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The University of California reached an agreement Thursday extending its contract to manage the nation's nuclear labs, but the government demanded changes to prevent future security lapses.

The renegotiated contract, signed by university regents and Energy Department officials, leaves the university in control of managing the two facilities until 2005 but gives the federal government new powers over who can work at the labs.

The regents unanimous vote to approve the changes Thursday came less than 48 hours before Richardson's term expired.

``I think we've turned a corner in our management challenges, and I'm very comfortable turning this over to a new administration,'' Richardson said.

The university had sometimes appeared in recent months to be in danger of losing the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory near San Francisco. It has managed both since their creation half a century ago.

At one point, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson announced he had not ruled out putting the management contract out to competitive bid.

The problems at the labs began in 1999 when Los Alamos scientist Wen Ho Lee was fired, charged with mishandling classified information and jailed.

Lee was set free after pleading guilty to one of the 59 charges, and the others were dropped. He was never charged with espionage and denied passing secrets to anyone.

The other problems included the nearly two-month disappearance of the Los Alamos hard drives and Richardson's discovery that Livermore's $1 billion laser project was hundreds of millions of dollars over budget and faced substantial delays.

The agreement reached Thursday includes provisions allowing the government to financially penalize the university for safety or security violations at the labs and to order the removal, but not the firing, of any lab employee.

The university can be paid up to $14.4 million for managing both labs through 2002 and up to $15.8 million after that. It also gets a base management fee, which brings the fee total to about $25 million a year. The school manages the labs on a nonprofit basis.

The modified contracts do not include the third lab the school manages for the Energy Department, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The lab does not conduct classified research and remains on its five-year contract signed in 1997.

-------- tennessee

Tenn. residents sue over weapons complex

Thursday, January 18, 2001
Philadelphia Inquirer
News in Brief In the Nation
http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/01/18/national/BITS18.htm

Two class-action lawsuits were filed yesterday in federal court in Knoxville, Tenn., against more than a dozen contractors who have operated the Oak Ridge nuclear weapons complex since World War II. Lawyer George Barrett said one suit dealt with health hazards that were never properly addressed. The other asks redress for "the deliberate creation of a racially segregated community" that has persisted in violation of the Constitution and the laws of Tennessee. The plaintiffs - former workers, residents and their children - seek unspecified damages, medical monitoring, and a public apology.

-------- washington

Richardson to order Hanford reactor shut down

Thursday, January 18, 2001
Seattle Times
By Linda Ashton
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis/web/vortex/display?slug=flux18m&date=20010118

YAKIMA - Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, in one of his last official acts, will order the permanent shutdown of an experimental nuclear reactor at the Hanford nuclear reservation.

Matt Nerzig, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Energy, said yesterday the official order will be issued this week. The Clinton administration concludes its term Saturday, Inauguration Day for President-elect George W. Bush.

Supporters of the Fast Flux Test Facility already are gearing up to make their case for restarting the reactor to the incoming administration, while Benton County, the cities of Richland and Kennewick and possibly others are prepared to sue the Department of Energy, contending the study used to justify the decommissioning order was flawed.

But Gerald Pollet, director of Heart of America Northwest, a Seattle-based Hanford watchdog group, was pleased with the decision.

"That's wonderful news," Pollet said. "We've wasted well over $100 million, which should have been spent on Hanford cleanup, while we waited for this decision.

"It'll be a great day for protecting the Columbia River and the health of the people of the Northwest."

Al Farabee, manager of FFTF for the Department of Energy, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

The future of the one-of-a-kind reactor has been debated passionately for nearly a decade, and decisions on whether to restart or shut down have been postponed repeatedly.

The FFTF was built in the 1970s as a test site for the federal breeder-reactor program, which was scrapped in the 1980s after the government decided it had misjudged the nation's electricity needs.

The 400-megawatt FFTF became surplus and, in 1992, it was placed on standby. The nuclear fuel was removed from the core, but the sodium-cooling system was maintained to permit a possible restart.

The reactor's most ardent supporters include a group of "cancer fighters" who believe the FFTF is the best place in the nation to make isotopes for radiological medicine.

"The FFTF is a national treasure, and its destruction is a national crisis," contends the Citizens for Medical Isotopes, a pro-FFTF organization.

Supporters suggest private companies could pay to use the reactor to make isotopes for diagnosing and treating disease.

In 1999, the Energy Department had its Pacific Northwest National Laboratory begin a broad study of possible uses for the reactor. DOE concluded a year later that restarting the reactor lacked sufficient support from the private sector and other federal agencies to make it feasible.

Decommissioning the FFTF would cost about $300 million and take about four years. It costs about $40 million a year and takes 250 people to keep the reactor on standby.

Opponents of a restart, including the cities of Seattle and Portland and Democratic members of the Northwest congressional delegation, have argued that Hanford didn't need a new nuclear-production mission, which would add to the 40-year legacy of radioactive and hazardous waste that makes Hanford the most contaminated nuclear site in the nation.

The Hanford nuclear reservation in south-central Washington was established in 1943 as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project during World War II. Hanford made plutonium for the nation's nuclear arsenal until 1986.

-------- us nuc politics

Powell Vows Activism In Foreign Relations

By Steven Mufson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 18, 2001 ; Page A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A9771-2001Jan17?language=printer

Retired Gen. Colin L. Powell, President-elect Bush's nominee for secretary of state, declared yesterday that the new administration will not withdraw "into a fortress of protectionism or island of isolationism."

Responding to wide-ranging questions at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Powell called for continuing sanctions on Iraq, engagement with China, talks with North Korea, U.S. involvement in Middle East peace negotiations and greater attention to Africa. He also told the committee he would return to ask for more money for the State Department.

During the campaign, Bush accused the Clinton administration of intervening for humanitarian purposes and "nation building" in places where there was no clear U.S. national interest. But Powell mapped out an activist foreign policy with considerable continuity from the outgoing administration. The United States, he said, has "an interest in every place on this Earth."

Seven years after he retired, Powell's views on many foreign policy issues were unclear going into the hearing, and senators gently explored his approach in a hearing that one committee member called a "love fest." Powell's confirmation appeared all but certain to sail through this week.

On one of the hallmark issues of the incoming Bush administration, Powell endorsed research into missile defense. But he was less dismissive of objections from Russia, China and U.S. allies than some Senate Republicans have been.

Criticizing a "unilateralist" approach, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) called the GOP approach to missile defense a "shield of dreams" -- if you build it, the allies will come. "I am concerned that a decision to deploy a national missile defense will reverse four decades of agreed-upon strategic doctrine and, therefore, threaten our interests," Biden said.

Powell replied that, "No one thinking soundly, logically, would construct a strategic framework with offense only. Not the New York Giants, not America." Using more moderate language than many Senate Republicans, however, Powell said the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty that limits nuclear defenses "in its current form is probably no longer relevant to our new strategic framework. We hope to persuade the Russians of the need to move beyond it."

But Powell would not say when the new administration might make a decision on deployment, arguing only that the United States should assess the threats and diplomatic environment at the time a system is ready to be deployed.

Biden told a conference later in the day at the U.S. Institute of Peace that Powell's answer on missile defense "was much more nuanced than anything I've heard thus far from my Republican colleagues in the Senate" or from Republicans during the campaign.

Powell said the relationship between Russia and the United States depends on Russia's efforts to "get on with reform." He cited a need for Moscow to establish the rule of law, root out corruption, stop the proliferation of nuclear technology and end sales of "destabilizing conventional weapons to nations such as Iran."

Powell also said the United States should not fear Russian objections to the enlargement of NATO to include the Baltic states. "We have to do what's right for those nations," he said.

Speaking on the 10th anniversary of the start of Desert Storm, the campaign he helped lead to push Iraqi forces out of Kuwait, Powell reiterated his support for sanctions on Iraq. "We need to be vigilant, ready to respond to provocations, and utterly steadfast in our policy towards Saddam Hussein. And we need to be supportive of opposition efforts," he said. But he did not spell out what the administration might do to bolster the Iraqi opposition.

Powell was asked only once about "the Powell doctrine," the strict conditions under which he advocates the use of force abroad. "The threshold really is, what is it we're trying to accomplish, and let's apply the decisive force to it. Let's not fool around," he explained.

On the sensitive issue of U.S. relations with China, which divides many Republicans, Powell said the United States should pursue a relationship that "is constructive, helpful, and that is in our interest." While China is not a strategic partner, he said, it also is "not an enemy, and our challenge is to keep it that way."

Powell also said the United States should provide for the defense of Taiwan. But, significantly, he did not explicitly commit the United States to intervene on Taiwan's behalf in a crisis, as some Republicans have advocated.

Queried about Tibet, where the Chinese government is accused of suppressing Tibetan Buddhists, Powell said it was "another example of the kind of behavior that will affect our entire relationship." The new administration will "show our interest and solidarity with the Dalai Lama and the people of Tibet," he said.

Responding to criticism of Bush's stated desire to pull U.S. troops out of peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and Kosovo, Powell said Bush "understands the commitment and obligations that we have made to our NATO allies and to the people of the region. And as we look at the possibility of reducing our troop levels in the region, this will be done carefully, and . . . you can be sure it will be done in the closest consultation with our allies."

Powell also made a strong pitch for more money for the State Department.
Staff writer Karen DeYoung contributed to this report.

----

Energy Nominee Breezes Through Confirmation

January 18, 2001
By MATTHEW L. WALD
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/18/politics/18CND-ENERGY.html

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 - President-elect George W. Bush's choice for energy secretary, Spencer Abraham, breezed through a confirmation hearing this morning in which committee members asked him barely any questions about his record on energy, pinned him down on absolutely nothing concerning the myriad issues facing his department, and mostly referred to the nominee, their former colleague, as "Spence."

On one of the most pressing issues before the department, the electricity crisis in California, Mr. Abraham said three times that he would have nothing substantial to say before the new administration takes office. He said he feared that he could hurt negotiations now under way between utilities, generators and state legislators.

He referred to the need for a "balanced" energy solution, including increased domestic production of oil and gas, conservation and more use of renewable energy sources, and decreased reliance on imported oil. But he offered no specifics about how to achieve these goals.

Following Senate tradition, the nominee was introduced by the senators from his own state, Michigan, one of whom is Debbie Stabenow, a Democrat who unseated Mr. Abraham in November in his bid for a second term. The state's other Senator, Carl Levin, also a Democrat, referred to the presentation as "American democracy at its ironic best."

In about three hours, most of it taken up by committee members voicing their own opinions on subjects ranging from electricity shortages and gasoline mileage to nuclear waste, Mr. Abraham appeared to take positions in three areas:

- The electric generation industry's shift to building plants that run almost exclusively on natural gas is creating an unbalanced system;

- The National Nuclear Security Agency may be conducting too many lie-detector tests, subjecting even Mr. Abraham himself to the procedure; and

- Nuclear waste clean-up may need to be altered so we can "begin to gain some ground on the clean-up of these sites."

"Overhead and security issues have consumed so much of the budget," he said.

Environmental management will cost about $6.75 billion this year, he said, about a third of the department's spending. Hardly any land has been completely cleaned, but the work has cut the risk of spread of contamination in some cases, department officials say.

Mr. Abraham disavowed a position he had taken as a senator, for the partial dismantlement of the Energy Department by privatizing some big hydroelectric installations.

----

Committee Recommends Powell Confirmation

January 18, 2001
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/politics/AP-Powell-State.html

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday approved retired Army Gen. Colin Powell to be secretary of state in the incoming Bush administration.

There was no debate as the nine senators present recommended the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to succeed Madeleine Albright as America's chief diplomat.

Confirmation by the Senate is expected Friday.

Powell is one of Bush's least controversial Cabinet selections. Senators from both parties showed great deference toward Powell during his confirmation hearing on Wednesday.

Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., and several of his colleagues referred to Powell as ``Mr. Secretary'' during the hearing.

Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., admitted he was dazzled as Powell outlined his thoughts on missile defenses, the future of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, turmoil in Zimbabwe and the wisdom of using sanctions as a tool for taming nations that misbehave.

Biden called Powell's 4 1/2-hour performance a ``tour de force,'' noting that the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff fielded questions from senators on a variety of complex issues without the benefit of a briefing book or refresher memos handed to him by aides.

Despite the plaudits, the performance was less than perfect. At one point, Powell referred to Russia as an ``Atlantic'' country. At another, he suggested that Latin America was awash in military dictatorships just 12 years ago. There was only one at the time.

It's not unusual for the Senate to gush over nominees to be secretary of state. Madeleine Albright became the first woman to hold the job four years ago, winning Senate confirmation 99-0, and Powell, the first black nominee, may win unanimous approval as well.

The committee was not expected to be as deferential toward Powell in the coming months and years as it was on Wednesday.

Democrats generally support ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and retention of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the Soviet Union. Most Democrats also oppose a national missile defense.

On each of these issues Powell took the opposing position.

``We will not be asking for the Congress to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in this next session,'' Powell said.

Also, he said, ``The ABM treaty in its current form is probably no longer relevant to our new strategic framework. We hope to persuade the Russians of the need to move beyond it.''

And, he said, ``We also see weapons of mass destruction at the top end of missiles that are being developed by nations. We have an obligation to our troops, an obligation to ourselves, an obligation to our allies and friends to move forward with missile defense.''

Biden challenged Powell on the missile defense issue.

``I am concerned that we not undertake a precipitous rush to deploy a national missile defense,'' Biden said, expressing agreement with President Clinton's decision last fall to defer the deployment decision to the next president.

``Neither the technology nor the diplomatic efforts had advanced far enough, in my view, to warrant a decision to deploy at the time,'' Biden said.

He also noted that the most recent estimates conducted by the intelligence community ``underscore the risk that a deployment decision now could leave us less, and not more, secure.

``I am concerned that a decision to deploy a national missile defense will reverse four decades of agreed-upon strategic doctrine and, therefore, threaten our interests. So I don't think it should be taken in haste.''

----

Powell previews Bush agenda

January 18, 2001
By David R. Sands
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
http://www.washtimes.com/national/default-2001118222018.htm

Missile defenses will be aggressively pursued and an international criminal court quickly abandoned under the new Bush administration, Secretary of State-designate Colin Powell told a Senate confirmation hearing yesterday.

Lawmakers from both parties heaped praise on the retired Army general and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the daylong hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which is expected to produce a unanimous recommendation to confirm Mr. Powell as early as today.

"This is one of those easy days," said temporary committee Chairman Joseph R. Biden Jr., Delaware Democrat. Sen. Jesse Helms, the North Carolina Republican who will resume the chairmanship next week, said President-elect George W. Bush had "hit a home run" in choosing Mr. Powell.

Mr. Powell offered the most detailed look to date at Mr. Bush's priorities in virtually every sector of the globe, saying the new president intends to conduct an engaged, focused foreign policy closely tied to the country's vital interests.

"We must be involved according to our national interests and not in some haphazard way that seems more dictated by the 'crisis du jour' than by serious, thoughtful foreign policy," Mr. Powell said, echoing a criticism many Republicans have leveled at the Clinton administration in recent years.

Mr. Powell, 63, forecast sharp breaks with the outgoing administration on missile defenses, which Mr. Bush supports, and on a treaty to establish an International Criminal Court.

President Clinton signed the court treaty - with serious reservations - on New Year's Eve, saying the United States hoped to modify the accord in subsequent negotiations.

But Mr. Powell, who echoed fears of a number of Republican senators that U.S. troops may find themselves subject to the court in future missions, said Mr. Bush won't be following Mr. Clinton's lead.

"I don't think you should be standing on your tippy-toes waiting for the Bush administration to ask for any movement toward ratification of the treaty," Mr. Powell said.

Mr. Powell predicted there would be a good deal of continuity, at least initially, in several areas, including the cautious rapprochement with North Korea, support for a huge drug-fighting aid package to Colombia, an emphasis on human rights in foreign policy, backing for a Middle East peace deal and support for expanding NATO.

On another sensitive subject, Mr. Powell said the Bush administration would consult fully with its allies before deciding whether to reduce U.S. troop deployments in Kosovo and Bosnia. Condoleezza Rice, Mr. Bush's top national security nominee, proposed during the campaign that the United States turn over Balkan peacekeeping to the Europeans.

Despite having been in the private sector for the past seven years, Mr. Powell remains one of the most admired figures in America, according to polls. He served on a number of corporate boards and earned more than $6.7 million for paid speeches last year alone.

Mr. Powell, who if confirmed would be the first black ever to be secretary of state, was questioned most closely about the national missile defense idea, designed to protect U.S. territory from ballistic missiles launched by rogue nations such as North Korea and Iraq.

Russia and China have opposed the idea, saying it would undermine their own nuclear deterrent, and many NATO allies have worried that the system could prove destabilizing.

Mr. Powell said the Bush team planned extensive consultations with its European allies and with Moscow and Beijing, even as U.S. military planners proceed aggressively with testing. Mr. Clinton had deferred a decision, citing technical and diplomatic problems with the idea.

Mr. Powell acknowledged doubts about the idea abroad, but added: "Sometimes you have to go through these political barriers and these barriers of understanding if you think you've got a system that really does make sense. It's your obligation to sell it."

Mr. Powell said that the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty was "no longer relevant" to today's strategic situation, and that the United States should abandon the treaty if Russia refuses to allow major modifications to the pact.

Miss Rice, in a speech to the U.S. Institute of Peace yesterday, said Mr. Bush was not seeking a tougher stance with Moscow.

"I don't think words like a 'harder line' or a 'more confrontational line' with Russia characterize [Mr. Bush's] thinking," she said.

Mr. Bush has "clearly said he wants a fruitful, professional relationship with Russia," Miss Rice said.

----

Good promise --

"I will work to reduce nuclear weapons and nuclear tension in the world -- to turn these years of influence into decades of peace."

And not so good promise --

"And, at the earliest possible date, my administration will deploy missile defenses to guard against attack and blackmail. Now is the time, not to defend outdated treaties, but to defend the American people."

George W. Bush, August 4, 2000 Republican nomination acceptance speech
http://www.washtimes.com/national/transcript-200084205142.htm

----

Softball for Powell, and With No Sweat

January 18, 2001
By JANE PERLEZ
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/18/world/18STAT.html?pagewanted=all

WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 - As a 63-year-old four star general acquainted with the old world of the Soviet Union and its weapons, Gen. Colin L. Powell set out today to convince his polite Senate inquisitors that he was suited to be secretary of state because he knew the new world of the Internet and the information revolution.

Only a few moments into his testimony, General Powell, dressed in a sharply tailored suit that could adorn any top corporate executive, was talking about e-mail, the speed of communication and his transforming experience as a director of America Online.

But just as the Internet was essential to the new world, so was national missile defense, said General Powell, who stressed repeatedly in his confirmation hearings before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the Bush administration was determined to move forward with the plan, even in the face of allied opposition.

"I have also been through several things like this over the years where people see something new come along and they are terrified," General Powell said comparing the fears in Europe about national missile defense with fears in the 1980's when there was public opposition in Britain and Germany to the installation of American Pershing nuclear missiles to deter the Soviets. But, the general declared, "If it's the right thing to do, you do it anyway."

Under deferential questioning from the senators, General Powell gave a broad-brush tour of a Bush foreign policy, referring often to consulting with the president-elect though never playing down the State Department's role in deciding matters of policy from North Korea to the Middle East to Africa.

Although he made tens of millions of dollars in the last seven years on the strength of his inspirational speaking skills, General Powell's delivery was almost rote as he rarely answered questions in depth. He had met with each of the senators on the committee in the privacy of their offices last week, so he seemed to be acting on the premise that today was as much about symbolism as substance, more about appearance than conviction.

In a very gentle warning, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., Democrat of Delaware, predicted that a possible source of tension between General Powell and the committee was the very attribute that the general, as an experienced Washington in-fighter, flirted with today. Senator Biden described it as "your legendary capability of being closemouthed and avoiding saying exactly where the principal you represent stands."

General Powell was scarcely asked about when and how he would apply his military doctrine - known as the Powell doctrine - that calls for a clear definition of goals and overwhelming force to accomplish them. Nor was he asked about his view of the role of American soldiers in peacekeeping tasks beyond the specific example of Kosovo and Bosnia.

In that instance, General Powell broke no new ground in his testimony or in answers to questions, saying that the Bush team would "carefully" review the commitments made by the Clinton administration to the NATO peacekeeping force in the Balkans.

European leaders have expressed alarm that even the threat of withdrawing American troops from the Balkans missions would weaken NATO and destabilize Kosovo and Bosnia just at a critical moment of their repair. As if to respond to that concern but not willing to concede the apparent contradiction that withdrawing troops would affect NATO, General Powell said in his testimony that NATO was the "bedrock of our relationship with Europe."

"It is sacrosanct," he said. "Weaken NATO, and you weaken Europe, which weakens America."

The backbone of General Powell's presentation was the determination of the Bush administration to press ahead with national missile defense. The general brushed aside a suggestion from Senator Biden that if the United States could get an ironclad agreement ending North Korea's long-range ballistic missile development programs, as well as its sale of missile technologies to Iran, then a missile defense system could be built that would pose fewer concerns to America's allies.

"There are still other nations that are moving in this direction, particularly Iran," he replied. "And until Iraq comes into compliance and we could be assured of what they're able to do, I would say that at this point, we should continue to move ahead as aggressively as possible."

On Iraq, General Powell made the case that sanctions, as he has said before, needed to be reinvigorated and that this could be done by pointing out more vigorously to nations in the region that Saddam Hussein was threatening them with weapons of mass destruction.

General Powell seemed to express some skepticism on a policy of trying to overthrow Saddam Hussein, a policy favored more strongly by others in the Bush team. `'It's easy to say let's just go in and take over the land," he said. "But we really have to make sure we have an understanding of how this is actually going to be operationalized, and that there really is some sound basis for believing that people could be successful once they go onto Iraqi territory."

Elsewhere in the Middle East, the general distanced himself from the all-out Clinton effort to reach an accord between the Palestinians and Israelis, saying that Syria was needed for a comprehensive settlement.

On the crisis in Congo, General Powell described the situation as "very confused" and warned that Congo was the most difficult peacekeeping task for the United Nations. "The Congo is not a nice little place like Sierra Leone, or even a little place like Bosnia and Kosovo," he said. "It's a huge place. And the number of people who get sucked up in such a mission is very, very large."

Under questioning by the ranking Republican on the panel, Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina, the general seemed to provide answers to Mr. Helms's liking. He said that the Bush team was in favor of expanding NATO beyond the three new members added during the Clinton years, but he was not specific.

On the International Criminal Court, of which President Clinton said he favored ratification, General Powell told the panel not to be "standing on your tippy-toes waiting for the Bush administration to ask for any - any - movement toward ratification of the treaty."

And on Cuba, the general fully satisfied Senator Helms by calling Fidel Castro an "aging starlet" who would be faced with a continued economic embargo from the Bush White House. In his prepared testimony, General Powell gave the impression that that the Bush administration would not seek passage of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty at all, though in his oral delivery he modified that to say they would not seek passage in the current Congressional session.

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Powell: We'll push missile defense

Thursday, January 18, 2001
Philadelphia Daily News
Dallas Morning News
http://dailynews.philly.com/content/daily_news/2001/01/18/national/POWE18.htm

WASHINGTON - Secretary of State-designate Colin Powell told the Senate yesterday the Bush administration would try to persuade Russia that a 1972 treaty banning missile defenses "is no longer relevant."

Critics of missile defenses have argued that preserving the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which was signed with the Soviet Union, is a major reason for giving up the quest to develop such technology.

"President-elect Bush has made it quite clear that he is committed to deploying an effective ballistic missile defense using the best technology available at the earliest date possible," the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"There will be time to consult with our allies and our friends, to explain to them what we have in mind, why we think it is for the benefit of mankind," Powell added. "We will let the Chinese and the Russians know that it is not directed at them, but at other nations that we have less confidence in."

In a confirmation hearing that Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D-Md., called "a lovefest," Republicans and Democrats praised Bush's selection of the retired four-star Army general to be the first African-American secretary of state.

Calling his appointment "miraculous," Powell said the idea of an African-American secretary of state "would have been unthinkable" when he began his Army career in 1958.

Powell pledged that the administration would be internationalist, not isolationist.

"A guiding principle of President-elect Bush's foreign policy will be that America stands ready to help any country that wishes to join the democratic world," he declared.

Powell suggested the Bush administration would be more reserved than President Clinton toward China and Russia.

"We will treat China as she merits," Powell said. "A strategic partner, China is not. But neither is China our inevitable and implacable foe."

Powell said Russia must "get on with reform, in particular by firmly establishing the rule of law, rooting out corruption, stopping proliferation of missile technology and nuclear materials and ending sales of destabilizing conventional weapons to nations such as Iran," he said.

He also said the new administration would review U.S. troop deployments in the Balkans "with the hope of reducing our troop levels there."

Powell, who led the U.S. military during the 1991 Persian Gulf War against Iraq, said the United States must remain "vigilant, ready to respond to provocations and utterly steadfast in our policy toward Saddam Hussein."


-------- MILITARY

-------- puerto rico

Step In on Vieques

January 18, 2001
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/18/opinion/L18PUE.html

To the Editor:

Re "Puerto Rico Governor Seeks a Ban on Vieques Bombing" (news article, Jan. 14):

It is no surprise that a new study offers further evidence that Navy target practice on Vieques causes devastating health problems. Studies already document that Navy-launched napalm, uranium and cluster bombs have caused increasing cancer and infant mortality rates and have collapsed the island's fishing, agriculture and tourism industries.

Our lawsuit against the Navy documents numerous instances when the Navy needlessly exposed Viequenses to toxic materials to which it did not expose its own personnel.

We agree with the governor of Puerto Rico: President Clinton should immediately step in with an executive order to ban further bombing.

JUAN FIGUEROA
President and General Counsel
Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund
New York, Jan. 14, 2001

-------- u.s.

Report: Air Force Probing Drug Use

January 18, 2001
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 4:47 a.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Air-Force-Drugs.html

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) -- Enlisted Air Force personnel working in the nerve center of the nation's missile-warning system and at Peterson Air Force Base are under investigation for alleged drug use, Air Force officials said.

The jobs of those under investigation were not disclosed, but some were removed from sensitive duties or work areas at Peterson and at the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, said Capt. Brenda Campbell.

The Air Force said the alleged drug use did not breach national security and was not widespread. The Gazette of Colorado Springs reported Thursday that 15 personnel were under investigation.

No charges have been filed and no suspects have been named in the investigation, which involves the use of Ecstasy, LSD and marijuana, Campbell said. She said more personnel could be implicated.

NORAD, inside Cheyenne Mountain, monitors the skies for missile launches and air attacks against North America and tracks objects in space to avoid collisions. Peterson is home to the Space Operations Center, where high-level commanders assess threats and recommend retaliation based on NORAD's information.

``The investigation only involved U.S. enlisted Air Force personnel and it in no way has affected mission readiness or mission accomplishment,'' the Air Force said in a statement issued at Peterson.

Officers, rather than enlisted personnel, hold the most critical jobs at NORAD and Peterson. In a nuclear missile launch against the United States, personnel at NORAD would be in direct contact with the president.

The investigation, which began in June, apparently has no connection with a drug investigation at the Air Force Academy, Campbell said. NORAD, Peterson and the academy are all in the Colorado Springs area.

One academy cadet faces court-martial and nine others have been disciplined on allegations of using or dealing drugs, or knowing about the activity but not reporting it.

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Troops Say Kosovo Duty Sharpens Their Skills

January 18, 2001
By MICHAEL R. GORDON and STEVEN ERLANGER
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/18/world/18KOSO.html?pagewanted=all

GNJILANE, Kosovo, Jan. 16 - As the commander of a United States Army tank company, Capt. Joseph Cantello has trained hard for armored warfare. But these days, in helmet and body armor, the 29-year- old captain is trying to coax wary Serbs and Albanians to agree that they would go to a school where their children would study under one roof, though in separate classrooms.

Captain Cantello, however, is not complaining. In fact, he said, he enjoys his responsibilities as a member of the American force in Kosovo.

"In the Army, you spend practically all of your time training," he said. "Here, we are executing a real-world mission. We get to interact with the other NATO militaries. And things are so decentralized that I have a lot more autonomy in making decisions. It's good experience."

In his presidential campaign, George W. Bush and his aides complained that Balkan peacekeeping diverted the military from its primary task of preparing to fight the nation's wars and degraded necessary skills.

One aide, Condoleezza Rice, said in the campaign, "We don't need to have the 82nd Airborne escorting kids to kindergarten."

Ms. Rice, who is being appointed Mr. Bush's national security adviser, said at the time that if Vice President Al Gore became president "America's military will continue to be overdeployed, harming morale and re-enlistment rates, weakening our military's core mission."

But a trip across Kosovo provides a different impression of America's role.

Most of the scores of young American officers and senior commanders interviewed for this article said they believed that their mission was important. Most striking, many insist that their work here is making them better soldiers.

"The units that come out of the Balkans are better than the units that have never done a Balkan deployment," said Lt. Col. Jim Embrey, chief operations officer for Task Force Falcon, as the American force here is known.

Kosovo is a good test case of the effects that peacekeeping is having on the American military. With a doctrine that requires the military to prepare for two nearly simultaneous regional wars, the armed forces have plenty to do even without peacekeeping.

Commanders here say duty in Kosovo offers something that their troops would never receive in training, the chance for young officers and soldiers armed with live ammunition to operate in a politically complex and potentially risky situation, making decisions that affect people's lives.

"There are things that will gather rust in our conventional war-fighting skills during our six months here," the task force commander, Brig. Gen. Kenneth J. Quinlan, said. "But by my calculation, the pluses overwhelm the minuses. In terms of junior-leader development, there is no better training environment than where we are today."

For all the debate that Balkan peacekeeping has generated among American politicians, the 5,245 American troops here make up 13 percent of the multinational force.

The current American force is part of the First Armored Division, one of the Army's premier combat units. The divison spent the cold war training to go toe-to-toe with the Warsaw Pact and joined in 1991 in the Army's famous left-hook against the Iraqi Republican Guard in the Persian Gulf war.

The troops are dispatched on six- month tours and leave behind their families. Most of the force operates from Camps Bondsteel and Montieth, two sprawling bases equipped with Burger King restaurants, gymnasiums and movie theaters to ease the strain of operating far from home. Almost a fifth of the force spends the night in one of the smaller 53 outposts and satellite camps in the province.

Critics have portrayed peacekeeping as a poor substitute for intensive combat training at the vast ranges that the Army has established in Europe and the United States. Some troops in Kosovo agree, saying they are soldiers, and not police officers.

But others stress that the mission is far more varied than many critics recognize, taking a view that is widely shared by their European NATO counterparts.

Peacekeeping in Kosovo not only means staffing checkpoints and escorting frightened Serbian civilians to markets, schools and hospitals in Albanian areas. It also involves armed patrols along the rugged boundary with Serbia, actions that are intended to stop the flow of arms, food and supplies to Albanian insurgents, who operate in a three-mile strip of Serbian territory that adjoins Kosovo and where Serbian armed forces are banned by the agreement that ended the Kosovo conflict in 1999.

Containing that insurgency has become an increasingly important NATO mission because of the need to limit the possibility for another explosion of ethnic violence that could destabilize the new democrats in Belgrade.

With their boundary mission and other tasks, American helicopter pilots fly three to five times as many hours each month as they do at their bases in Germany, General Quinlan said.

One Kiowa helicopter pilot, Rob Smith, who helped capture a group of Albanian insurgents this month, said his reconnaissance missions provided a good opportunity to train in mountainous conditions.

"Our flying skills are developed a lot better here than in a sea-level environment," he said, and the pilots operate without the restrictions common in purely peacetime exercises.

Artillery might seem out of place in a peacekeeping force. But American troops are using their 155-millimeter guns to fire special illumination rounds to light up the wild boundary region. Combat engineers have been blowing up smugglers' trails.

Most of the effort, of course, is directed at more traditional peacekeeping, for which the troops received months of training. Even so, soldiers say, their duties provide good experience for intelligence officers, medical and logistical personnel, communications specialists and civil affairs units, all helping restore basic services.

But some skills do fade. To preserve combat skills, the Army arranged for intensive combat training before the deployment. Training ranges have also been set up in Kosovo where troops can fire tanks, machine guns and other weapons.

But the Americans will not be able to maneuver large armored units and coordinate operations with American helicopters, planes and artillery, a limitation that will affect the soldiers' ability to fight a major war.

"We will go out of Kosovo with some of our skills degraded at the company and battalion level, combined arms stuff that we won't get to do here," General Quinlan said. "Companies can't operate as companies here. Battalions can't operate as battalions in a conventional sense with tanks."

General Quinlan said it would take 90 days for his soldiers to regain their previous combat proficiency after they have completed their Kosovo assignment and return to Germany. Asked what would happen if his troops were called on to fight, he said that, if needed, they would be ready to go to war.

With the ambitious training regimen and a steady series of overseas deployments, there has also been concern that extended time away from families will prompt many young soldiers to conclude that the Army life is not for them. So far, that problem seems to be under control here, at least in terms of re-enlistment rates.

The First Armored, which provided the troops for the previous American peacekeeping deployment in the Army, as well as the current one, has the highest retention rate in the Army, according to Sherman J. Fuller, command sergeant major for the task force.

The often generous bonuses that soldiers receive for re-enlisting are tax free if they re-enlist while in Kosovo. And the Army has tried to give the soldiers more predictability about their lives by developing a five-year deployment schedule for Kosovo.

At Pones, Captain Cantello and his men are taking steps to maintain their combat skills. Captain Cantello's 75-member company drives its 14 tanks once a week, and the troops train on tank simulators at least once a week.

His commander, Lt. Col. Clemson G. Turregano, is also planning a 19- mile trip to a firing range in which the soldiers will practice offensive and defensive maneuvers.

Captain Cantello's main focus these days, however, is not tank maneuvers, but Pones, a divided town with separate Serbian and Albanian mayors. The two communities keep their distance. But tensions are high.

Maintaining the peace in Pones might seem more like police work than a military mission. But the United Nations police force, made up of personnel from more than 50 nations, is too weak to control Kosovo, and the nascent Kosovo police are inexperienced and untested.

The platoon of heavily equipped American soldiers, based in the town, seems to enjoy the most trust. The theory is that Americans will provide the security and space to enable the Kosovars to do more for themselves - and, ultimately, allow the Americans and other international forces to leave Kosovo. But those days are clearly not yet at hand.

American soldiers, and some of their officers, sometimes talk as if Kosovo would be just fine if everybody could just be friends. But the interethnic violence and revenge continues daily, and despite efforts at conciliation, much of what international troops do is simply try to keep one side from hurting the other.

In recent days, Captain Cantello's soldiers escorted an anxious Serb and his 17-day-old baby to the nearby Albanian-run hospital. The man refused to give his name, but said in an interview he would be afraid to travel more than 200 yards from his home without the protection of American troops.

To build ties between the Serbian and Albanian communities, the Army is promoting plans for the new school that Serbian and Albanian children would attend. The project would be paid by nonmilitary budgets.

The Serbs in Pones have balked, saying the Albanians may squeeze them out after the school has been constructed. But the soldiers have not given up. Sgt. Kevin Gleason, 33, has invited the Serbian and Albanian leaders to a new meeting to break the logjam. The place: the American Army platoon's base in Pones.


------- Onelist (submissions from subscribers)